Gun sling



April 28, 1959 I UB v 2,884,172

GUN suns Filed July so, 1956' v INVENII'O-R.

I JAMES. .1 KUBO BY *J QMM/ ATTORNEYS United States Patent GUN SLING James J. Kubo, Sacramento, Calif.

Application July 30, 1956, Serial No. 601,069

3 Claims. (Cl. 224-1) This invention relates to a gun sling and has for one of its objects the provision of a gun sling that is adapted to extend over one shoulder of the person carrying the gun and to depend directly from said shoulder, or which may extend downwardly around the body of the wearer and over one shoulder so the gun may be supported either generally vertically from one shoulder only, or it may be supported in a position extending diagonally across the body of such person, as desired, and which sling is so connected with the gun as to support the latter in a position spaced from the body so as to prevent the gun from knocking against the body in walking.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a simple, economically made gun sling that is adapted to support a gun from the body of the person carrying it with the muzzle directed upwardly, and which means includes a cover for said muzzle that is adapted to protect the muzzle against injury and to close it against rain, dirt, etc. from entering the muzzle.

A still further object of the invention is the provision of a gun sling and means for removably securing it to a gun, which includes a cap that receives the muzzle of the gun and protects the latter, and a butt receiving memher that removably receives the butt end of the gun, with said cap and said member being so connected with said strap as to enable almost instant removal of said cap when the weight of the gun is not supported on the sling, but which cap and member are tightly held on the gun under the influence of the weight of the gun when the gun is supported by the sling.

In explanation of the foregoing objects, the use of the word gun is primarily intended to mean a shotgun of either the single or double barrel type, including the over and under arrangement. Rifle slings are well known, and they usually extend between swivels secured to the forewood of the stock and the butt end of the latter, and sometimes the outer end of the sling is connected with a swivel carried by the front band that encloses the forewood and barrel, or that may enclose the magazine and barrel.

In shotguns, the barrels are usually substantially longer than that of a rifle and whereas the forearm on a shotgun, which corresponds to the forewood on the stock of a rifle, terminates in many instances approximately at a midpoint on the barrel, the forewood on the stock of a rifle usually terminates much nearer to the muzzle than to the breech end of the barrel.

Furthermore, shotguns do not have bands extending around the barrel.

Heretofore, attempts have been made to use slings on shot guns, and these attempts have usually required the addition of a band of some kind around the barrel or barrels of the gun, and which hand is slid down the barrel until it engages the forearm. The band must, of course, be removed before the gun is used, and its removal has usually required unbuckling the loop of the "ice sling since the position of the band at a midpoint along the barrel would require material shortening of the sling when the latter was used for carrying the gun. Such shortening of the sling has resulted in the sling being adapted only for use over one shoulder for carrying the gun at one side of the body, and has precluded carrying the gun diagonally across the back. It is further pertinent to note that the heretofore practices in using gun slings on shotguns, as above described, has resulted in the gun being awkwardly supported in a position in which it strikes the person carrying it.

In addition to the above described disadvantages of slings heretofore shown, they have supported the guns with their muzzles directed upwardly, and the large open upwardly directed muzzles of shotguns readily admit rain and other foreign material. This has resulted in the slings having been abandoned in many instances.

With the present invention the gun muzzle is covered and protected against injury thereto and against entry of foreign material. Also the gun may be supported comfortably across the back or at one side of the hunter, and the sling may be quickly brought to a position for use.

Other objects and advantages will appear in the description and in the drawings.

In the drawings, Fig. 1 is a view of a gun being supported by the sling of this invention on a person in a position extending diagonally across the back of said person.

Fig. 2 is a view showing the sling supporting a gun from one shoulder of a person and along one side of the body of the latter.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary elevational view of the sling illustrating the muzzle cap and butt receiving member and their connections with the sling.

In detail, the sling is generally designated 1, and comprises a strap connected at its ends by a buckle 2, or the like, that provides a large loop adjustable to different sizes according to where the buckle is positioned.

A muzzle cap 3 which may be of any suitable material, such as leather, plastic, etc., is preferably of a size adapted to receive and to fit over the muzzle 4 (Fig. 3) of a single barrel shotgun or the muzzles of a dougle barrel shotgun (Figs. 1, 2). This cap may have an annular elastic member 5 (Fig. 3) incorporated in the side wall of the cap to automatically draw the mouth end of the cap against the barrel or barrels, and a reinforcing strip 6 may extend across the closed outer end of the cap and over the opposite sides of the latter, with one end of this strip securely attached to a flattened ring positioned between the elastic member 5 and the closed end of the cap. A second reinforcing strip 8 may extend over the ends of strip 6 and to the cap 3.

An adjustable strap 10 connects the flattened ring 7 with a similar ring 11 through which the main sling strap 1 extends. A buckle 12 on strap 10 provides for adjusting the length of this strap 10.

A band or strap 13 is adapted to extend around the butt end 14 (Fig. 3) of the stock of the gun, and a cross strap 15 connected at its ends to said strap 13 combines with strap 13 to form a butt receiving socket member, generally designated 16 in which the butt end of the stock is adapted to be held. A buckle 17 may connect the ends of strap 13 to enable tightening the latter onto the butt end of the stock so the socket member will not be accidentally removed.

A flattened ring 18 may be secured by any suitable means to a side of strap 13 midway between the ends of strap 15, and the main sling strap 1 extends through said ring 18.

A cinch sleeve 19 may extend around the loop formed 3 by the strap 1 at the end of the latter where it passes through the ring 18, thus enabling the ring 18 to be held stationary relative to strap 1, but upon sliding sleeve 19 on the strap 1 away from the ring 18, the ring maybe moved relative to the strap 1 to any desired position along the latter.

In actual practice, the length of strap 1 between the points Where rings 11, 18 engage said strap 1, 1s substantially less than the total overall length of the gun, and when the cap 3 is on the muzzle and the butt recelvmg member 16 is on the butt of the stock and strap 1 is over a shoulder of the person carrying the gun, the gun Wlll incline rearwardly from its lower end in direction away from the person. This is because the center of gravity of the gun will be rearwardly of the lower end of the gun, because strap permits the muzzle of the gun to swing rearwardly. This causes the cap to be pulled tightly against the muzzle of the gun under the influence of the muzzle weight of the gun.

When the gun is supported independently of the sling, the cap 3 may be slipped off the muzzle and the butt receiving member received without disconnecting the ends of strap 1, and this enables the hunter to quickly slip the cap off the muzzle and to use the gun.

The cap will protect the muzzle against denting, scratching or other injury that might occur by its striking an object, and it also prevents rain, dirt, etc., from entering the muzzle so the gun can be safely used upon removing the cap.

Obviously a draw string, snap-strap or other means may be used to tighten the cap around the barrel or barrels. The elastic merely provides an automatic seal between the sides of the cap and the sides of the muzzle.

One feature that is to be noted, is that the present invention provides a simple gun sling that is adapted to support a gun from the body of a person without any permanent or semipermanent attachment to the gun itself. Nor will any part of the sling, or the portions thereof that engage the gun, cause any defacement, scratching, mutilation or altering of the gun. No drilling, clamping or sliding of metal parts over the barrel stock, or any other portion of the gun occurs in attaching or detaching the sling from the gun.

Obviously the invention is applicable to use with rifles, if desired.

It is to be understood that modifications may be made in the structure that has been specifically described without departing from the invention. The detailed description merely describes a preferred form of the invention, but whether the sling depends from the shoulder as seen in Fig. 2, or whether it extends obliquely acrossthe back, as seen in Fig. 1, the connecting means between the muzzle cap and the strap of the loop is at the upper end of the loop, and is of sufiicient length to hold the gun spaced from the body instead of holding it against the body. Also the loop formed by the strap 1 is open from its upper end to its lower end with the butt receiving member at the butt end of the gun connected to the lowermost end of the loop, as seen in Figure 2.

The length of the open portion of the loop between its upper and lower ends is preferably as seen in Fig. 2 in which the lower portion of the loop opening is substantially at the level of the hands when the arms are verticallystraight at the sides of the body so the hand and arm can readily be swung through the loop while the upper end of the latter is over the shoulder of the wearer. Also when the loop is suspended from and extends over the shoulder at the upper end, the muzzle of a normal gun having its lower end supported in the butt receiving member that is connected to the lowermost end of the loop will be spaced well above the uppermost end of the loop that is at the level of the upper sideof the shoulder.

By this structure the gun is obviously free to swing relative to the loop about a point adjacent to the lowermost end of the loop, so as to be quickly brought to a firing position without the necessity of sliding rings or collars over the muzzle or removing books or clips or other similar fastenings. The single step of slipping the muzzle cap off the muzzle is the only act necessary beside the act of swinging the gun around from the position shown in Fig. 2 and slipping the arm, shoulder and hand out of the loop, free from any interference between the upper and lower ends of the loop.

I claim:

1. In combination with a shotgun having a muzzle and a butt at opposite ends thereof; a strap connected at its ends to provide an open generally vertically disposed loop sling, a cap removably positioned over said muzzle, a butt receiving socket member in which said butt is received, and separate means respectively connected with said strap at the upper and lower ends of said loop at points spaced apart on the latter a substantial distance less than the overall length of said gun connecting said cap and said member with said strap, said loop being of a size adapted to extend over the shoulder of a person and depending therefrom with the means connecting said member with said strap being at the lowermost point on said loop, said separate means being respectively connected to correspondingly facing lateral sides of said cap and said loop so that the side of the gun at said correspondingly facing sides will be supported next to the body of said person when the loop is over said shoulder one of the sides of said loop being adjacent to said gun and the other side being remote therefrom, said one of the sides of said loop being free from any connection with said gun between said spaced points and the means connected with said cap being a strap adapted to extend in a direction away from said upper end of said loop and away from said other side of said loop to enable swinging said gun laterally relative to said one of the sides of said loop.

2. A gun sling for supporting a gun from a shoulder of a wearer of said sling with the muzzle of the gun directed upwardly comprising: a strap connected at its ends to provide a generally vertically disposed open loop that is free between its upper and lower ends from interference to the passage of one hand, arm and shoulder at one side of said wearer therethrough, a butt receiving member adapted to receive and to support the butt end of the stock of a vertically extending gun therein when said butt end is lowermost, means connecting said member with the lowermost end of said loop and holding said member to the strap of said loop in a position relatively closely adjacent to said lowermost end, a muzzle cap adapted to extend over the muzzle of such gun when said butt end is in said member, a flexible strap respectively connected at its opposite ends to the uppermost portion of said loop and to said muzzle cap and extending slantlngly upwardly and away from its end that is connected with said loop to permit swinging of the upper end of a gun held between said cap and said butt receiving member about a point adjacent to said member and to the lowermost end of said loop.

3. A gun sling for supporting a gun from a shoulder of a wearer of said sling with the muzzle of the gun directed upwardly comprising: a strap connected at its ends and in a position adapted to provide a generally upwardly disposed loop having an uppermost end adapted to extend over such shoulder and a lowermost end approximately at the level of the fingers of the hand of such wearer when the arms are vertically straight at the sides of the body and it is suspended from said shoulder, the sides of said loop between its said uppermost and lowermost ends being free from connection with each and said lowermost ends, means connected with and positioned adjacent to said lowermost end for supporting the butt end of the stock of a gun therein when the muzzle end of such gun is uppermost, a muzzle cap adapted to be receivably positioned over the muzzle of such gun and flexible means extending upwardly from and connected with the uppermost end of said loop for releasably securing said gun to said loop and for holding said gun in an upwardly extending position supported at its lower end in said member and carried by said loop.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Anderson Apr. 27, 1909 Bennek NOV. 27, 1951 FOREIGN PATENTS Great Britain July 6, 1900 Germany July 1, 1912 

